Chicken kebabs strike delicate balance

Chicken kebabs marinated in a blend of lemon juice and spices mimic the flavors of a favorite restaurant dish. The kebabs soak all day then are grilled quickly over high heat. The dinner is rounded out with grilled tomatoes and zucchini, as well as saffron rice. JILL L. REED, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

There is a little Middle Eastern eatery in my neighborhood that I could eat at once a week if I let myself. They have wonderful food there, a favorite being the tender, tangy and lightly spicy kebabs of chicken or beef or lamb.

When we make time to visit this place, The Man can be counted on to get the chicken kebabs. He always marvels at the wonderful flavor and at how tender they are.

"How," he asks, "do they get them like this?"

I explain that they probably soak them for a good long time in a marinade that would include lemon and oil and spices.

"Can you do this at home?" he wants to know, as the kebabs disappear quickly. Our son Ben, 3, sits next to him, gnawing happily at his own kebab.

Well, it took a few experiments. Getting the amount of lemon juice right, balanced with the right spices in the correct proportions was the key. First it was too tangy. Then it was too spicy.

Finally I found the balance. I did a little research and debated using Aleppo pepper, to be more authentic. But since I already had cayenne, I opted to just use that with some smoked paprika. More smoked paprika than pepper so it is not too hot. And with some mint (or oregano), coriander and cumin in this along with lemon and garlic, I skipped the salt entirely.

Even though this is really a basic mix, there was no shortage of seasoning.

The amount of time the chicken is left to soak plays a factor, too.

I like a nice long bath for this, to let the lemon and spices really do their work. So I cut up the chicken and make this marinade the night before I want to cook it. Then in the morning I put the chicken in with the marinade and let it soak all day, usually about 10 hours.

When I get home from work, the work is in just getting the chicken on the skewers and then grilled. At this point the chicken cooks quickly on the grill, done in about 10 minutes. And after marinating all day, there is a really good lemony zip to these, but the spice is not too overpowering.

At the restaurant they give us a little dip for the kebabs of yogurt with some cucumber and herbs. When I am too lazy to do even that, I just serve these with plain Greek yogurt.

To round out the meal and make it more like what we get when we go out, I serve this with saffron rice with almond slivers and some simple grilled tomatoes and zucchini.

Chicken kebabs marinated in a blend of lemon juice and spices mimic the flavors of a favorite restaurant dish. The kebabs soak all day then are grilled quickly over high heat. The dinner is rounded out with grilled tomatoes and zucchini, as well as saffron rice. JILL L. REED, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Chicken kebabs soak up flavors of lemon, garlic and spices before being cooked quickly on the grill in this dish inspired by Middle Eastern cooking. JILL L. REED, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Chicken kebabs soak up flavors of lemon, garlic and spices before being cooked quickly on the grill in this dish inspired by Middle Eastern cooking. JILL L. REED, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A spice blend for the marinade includes dried oregano (or mint), cumin, coriander and smoked paprika. All add flavor to the mix without adding heat. A little cayenne pepper also goes into it, along with lemon juice, garlic and olive oil. JILL L. REED, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Fresh garlic works in this marinade, but frozen garlic works great, too. And since it is already peeled and crushed and premeasured, the frozen cubes are a wonderful convenience product. Each cube is roughly equivalent to one clove of garlic. JILL L. REED, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Chicken kebabs marinated in a blend of lemon juice and spices mimic the flavors of a favorite restaurant dish. The kebabs soak all day then are grilled quickly over high heat. JILL L. REED, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Chicken kebabs soak up flavors of lemon, garlic and spices before being cooked quickly on the grill in this dish inspired by Middle Eastern cooking. JILL L. REED, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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